Watch The DAZN Boxing Show and live fights on DAZN
Watch The DAZN Boxing Show and live fights on DAZN
Holly Holm looked to continue her path to getting a shot at becoming a two-time women's bantamweight champion on Saturday as she took on Ketlen Vieira from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. She'd won back-to-back fights coming in, and a win would have put her in a position to challenge the winner of the bantamweight title rematch between Julianna Pena and Amanda Nunes at UFC 277 on July 30.
When the fight ended, Holm had done more than enough to win as she controlled the action and landed more significant and total strikes by a wide margin. Yet, when the judges read the scores, they felt Vieira's harder shots were enough to give her the upset win by split decision (47-48, 48-47, 48-47). DAZN scored the fight 49-46 for Holm.
According to stats provided by the UFC, Holm connected on 183/295 total strikes compared to 104/178 for Vieira. In terms of significant strikes, Holm was 112/219 while Vieira was 63/136. Despite what the statistics say, what matters is how the judges viewed the fight. For Vieira (13-2), that's back-to-back wins over former 135-pound champions in Holm and Miesha Tate. Now, the Brazilian wants a crack at the winner of Pena-Nunes 2.
“Listen everybody — I’m the next champion in the bantamweight division,” Vieira said in her post-fight interview. “I’m next. I’m ready. I’m here.”
Holm (14-6) was visibly upset when the scorecards were read as she felt what happened in the fight warranted a decision in her favor and getting another crack at UFC gold.
When the fight ended, Holm had done more than enough to win as she controlled the action and landed more significant and total strikes by a wide margin. Yet, when the judges read the scores, they felt Vieira's harder shots were enough to give her the upset win by split decision (47-48, 48-47, 48-47). DAZN scored the fight 49-46 for Holm.
According to stats provided by the UFC, Holm connected on 183/295 total strikes compared to 104/178 for Vieira. In terms of significant strikes, Holm was 112/219 while Vieira was 63/136. Despite what the statistics say, what matters is how the judges viewed the fight. For Vieira (13-2), that's back-to-back wins over former 135-pound champions in Holm and Miesha Tate. Now, the Brazilian wants a crack at the winner of Pena-Nunes 2.
“Listen everybody — I’m the next champion in the bantamweight division,” Vieira said in her post-fight interview. “I’m next. I’m ready. I’m here.”
Holm (14-6) was visibly upset when the scorecards were read as she felt what happened in the fight warranted a decision in her favor and getting another crack at UFC gold.
“I thought I won the fight,” Holm said. “I gave her round two, and I felt I won all the rest of the rounds. I really felt like I won the fight. I didn’t feel it was a question. I wanted obviously to be more active from the clinch. I was still able to control her in those areas.
“I feel like I won the fight, so I kind of have to figure out what’s going to happen now.”
Here is what happened at Holly Holm vs. Ketlen Vieira.